Development occurs due to a variety of reasons; due to Brazil winning the bid to host the Olympic Games in 2016 a range of projects have begun in the country which will contribute its development. However this is not good news for all, Al Jazeera’s report titled “The real cost of Brazil’s Olympic Games” sheds light on the issue of ‘social cleansing’ of people living in Vila Autodromo[1] which is clearly a human rights violation. Using Al Jazeera’s report, and other sources that deal with Brazil’s deployment for the Olympic Game, I will attempt to identify the meaning of development and the human rights issues that arise due to development, or a lack thereof.

The community of Vila Autodromo is bordering on Olympic Park which is an area being developed for the Olympic Games, the park will receive a lot of international attention during the Olympic Games in 2016; the community believes this is the reason they are being evicted from their homes, as one of the inhabitants put it “world doesn’t want to see poverty”. As Vila Autodromo is not being developed due to the games, I could argue that to ‘develop’ is to ‘reduce poverty’; however I believe this would be an incomplete meaning. This is because poverty exists in developed countries such as Australia[2], however there is no denial of the fact that Australia is considered to be a developed country[3]. This is not to say that the reduction of poverty is not development; the reduction of poverty does raise the quality of life for people however what we need to keep in mind is that even in the most developed nations there are minorities that remain undeveloped.

Vila Autódromo – Copyright Catalytic Communities 2015

The common conception of being developed is an economic one[4], this is one of the reasons why Australia is considered to be highly developed[5]. However Brazil has the 7th highest GDP in the world but is still considered to be under developed[6], the reasons given as to why Brazil is not considered developed is due to a high birth rate, high death rate, lack of career opportunities, high levels of gender inequality, lack of education, lack of healthcare, low living standards, and a low per capita GDP[7]. Some of these reasons align with the UN’s definition of development, and some of these issues are also in violation of the UN declaration of Human Rights such as gender inequality, lack of education, and living standards. If we accept the UN declaration of Human Rights, we can now then identify that a lack of development is a Human Rights issue.

One of the elements need to reduce poverty is the infrastructure needed to support the population[8]; Brazil has started to tackle some of these issues, Al Jazeera’s report points out that banners on the construction activities in Rio de Janeiro boasts “The Olympics bring more than just the Olympics”, this is referring to the long term effects that the games will have on the city. As a result of winning the bid to host the Olympic Games several projects have been started across Brazil which aim to develop communication, electricity, sanitation, roads, transport, water, and other infrastructure in the host cities. While the primary purpose of these project may be to meet the operational requirements to be the Olympic Game’s Host City, the infrastructure improvements will create jobs and contribute to the quality of life for millions of people long after the Olympic Games are over. If the reduction of poverty and raising the quality of life for people is considered development the infrastructure upgrades can also be considered development.

Rio de Janeiro – Copyright Carlos Ortega 2011

A flaw with infrastructure is that control of it can fall into the wrong hands thus making it unsafe to utilise by the majority of the population. One of the main human rights issues facing Brazil is its high crime rate, which is a major issue for human rights. The 1995 Country Report on Human Rights Practices highlights some human rights violations such as torture, arbitrary detention, and extrajudicial killings; some of these violations are also committed by the state police[9]. Brazil has tackled some of the issues, over the last few years there has been a reduction of gang activity, more police patrols, and the government has gained back control of parts of cities[10]. These security improvement can also be considered development as they generally improve the people’s safety and quality of life.

One thing to keep in mind while striving for development is the effect it has on everybody, going back to Al Jazeera’s report, the people of Vila Autodromo are being forcefully removed from their homes even tho they have a legal and human rights protecting them from such action. The state of Brazil has violated some of the basic human rights of its people in the name of security and development for the Olympic Games[11]. Reports of state brutality has surfaced in Brazil[12] just as it does in similar ‘developing’ nations when people’s human rights and development needs of state are in conflict.

Using Al Jazeera’s report on “The real cost of Brazil’s Olympic Games” I’ve explored the various development activities which is taking place in Brazil due to the Olympic games; I’ve attempted to identify what development means and how it relates to Human Rights. I have identified that Development is the process of improving the quality of life for the majority of people; and that a lack of development can be a human rights issue. The pursuit of development can also result in human rights violations by the developers when the rights of people and development needs are in conflict.